The Alaska Ecosystems Program conducts research on Steller sea lions and northern fur seals. Research projects are designed to assess the status of these species under the ESA and MMPA and to improve knowledge of their ecology and behavior.  In addition, research on these species is directed at gaining a better understanding of the role that these species play in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska ecosystems in order to provide advice for management of human activites that may affect the conservation and recovery of these species. 

Program Leader: Tom Gelatt

• 2007 Steller Sea Lion Survey Results
  
• Northern Fur Seal Research
  
• Bogoslof Island Northern Fur Seal Research
  
• Steller Sea Lion Pup Survey
  
• Resight Surveys for Branded Steller Sea Lions
  
• Steller Sea Lion Research
  
• Northern Fur Seal Update
  
• Marine Science in Alaska Symposium
  
• Northern Fur Seal Research Update
  
• Winter Behavior Studies of Young Northern Fur Seals
  
• Recent Work on Steller Sea Lions and Northern Fur Seals
  
• Scientific Successes Amidst Court Ruling
  
• Contrasting Western Steller Sea Lion and Northern Fur Seal Population Trends in Alaska
  
• Research Findings
  

• Von BIELA, V. R., J. W. TESTA, V. A. GILL, and J. M. BURNS. 2008. Evaluating cementum to determine past reproduction in northern sea otters. J. Wildl. Manage. 72(3):618-624. 
   
• FRITZ, L., M. LYNN, E. KUNISCH, and K. SWEENEY. 2008. Aerial, ship, and land-based surveys of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska, June and July 2005-2007. U. S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo., NMFS-AFSC-183, 70 p. (.pdf, 4.73 MB).  Online.
   
• HOLMES, E. E., L. W. FRITZ, A. E. YORK, and K. SWEENEY. 2007. Age structured modeling reveals long-term declines in the natality of western Steller sea lions. Ecol. Appl. 17(8):2214-2232. 
   
• WARD, E. J., R. HILBORN, R. G. TOWELL, and L. GERBER. 2007. A state-space mixture approach for estimating catastrophic events in time series data. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 64:899-910. 
   
• HUEBINGER, R. M., E. E. LOUIS, Jr., T. GELATT, L. D. REA, and J. W. BICKHAM. 2007. Characterization of eight microsatellite loci in Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). Mol. Ecol. Notes 7:1097-1099. 
   
• STERLING, J. T., R. REAM, B. S. FADELY, and T. GELATT. 2007. Merging satellite telemetry with oceanographic and archival tag data to assess foraging ecology of Alaskan pinnipeds, p. 49. In P. Sheridan, J. W. Ferguson, and S. L. Dowling (editors), Report of the National Marine Fisheries Service Workshop on Advancing Electronic Tag Technologies and Their Use in Stock Assessments. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-82. 
   
• LANDER, M. E., J. T. STERLING, and B. S. FADELY. 2007. Spatial patterns of juvenile Steller sea lions at sea with respect to corresponding patterns of environmental features, p. 50. In P. Sheridan, J. W. Ferguson, and S. L. Dowling (editors), Report of the National Marine Fisheries Service Workshop on Advancing Electronic Tag Technologies and Their Use in Stock Assessments. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-82. 
   
• GELATT, T. 2007. Book Review: Top predators in marine ecosystems: Their role in monitoring and management. 2006. I. L. Boyd, S. Wanless, and C. J. Camphuysen, (editors). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 392 p. Mar. Mammal Sci. 23(2):474-476. 
   
• Additional recent Alaska Ecosystems Program publications

• Estimating Capture and Handling Mortality Risk to Endangered Juvenile Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus)
  By:  BRIAN FADELY, JEREMY STERLING, LOWELL FRITZ, MICHELLE LANDER, MICHAEL REHBERG, DEVIN JOHNSON, LORRIE REA, TOM GELATT
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 990KB)   Online.
   
• Effects of Research Disturbance on Behavior and Attendance of Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) at a Rookery in Alaska
  By:  LOWELL W. FRITZ, ERIN KUNISCH, KATHRYN CHUMBLEY, and DEVIN JOHNSON
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 4.5MB)   Online.
   
• Relative Prey Biomass Abundance, Distribution and Availability in the Vicinity of Endangered Steller Sea Lion Rookeries at Ugamak Island, AK, 1995-99
  By:  KATHRYN CHUMBLEY
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 5.39MB)   Online.
   
• Killer Whale Predation on Northern Fur Seals - Is it Increasing?
  By:  EVGENIY G. MAMAEV, VLADIMIR BURKANOV
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 2.85MB)   Online.
   
• Philopatry and Dispersion in Steller Sea Lion
  By:  VLADIMIR BURKANOV, DONALD G. CALKINS
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 3.71MB)   Online.
   
• Population Structure as Revealed by mtDNA and Microsatellites in Northern Fur Seals, Callorhinus ursinus
  By:  B. R. DICKERSON, R. R. REAM, S. N. VIGNIERI, P. BENTZEN, G. A. ANTONELIS
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 5.37MB)   Online.
   
• Steller Sea Lion Brand Resight Database Using MS Access
  By:  ALEXEY V. ALTUKHOV, VLADIMIR N. BURKANOV
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
  (2008 poster, .pdf, 2.67MB)   Online.
   
• Olfaction of Abiotic Objects and the Social Environment in Steller Sea Lion's (Eumetopias jubatus) Rookery Life
  By:  OLGA BELONOVICH, EVGENIY MAMAEV, VIACHESLAV ROZHNOV, VLADIMIR BURKANOV, RANDALL DAVIS
  Conference:  Biology of Marine Mammals 17th Biennial Conf., Society for Marine Mammalogy, Cape Town, South Africa, Nov/Dec 2007
  (2007 poster, .pdf, 6.29MB)   Online.
   
• Additional recent Alaska Ecosystems Program poster presentations